Before she became the first U.S. gymnast in history to win a gold medal on floor exercise, Raisman took the bronze on balance beam after an appeal of her score and then a tiebreaker went her way.

Six days earlier, Raisman was dispirited when she lost a tiebreaker for the all-around bronze.

"It definitely felt like redemption in that I was in the same exact position," she said. "This time it worked in my favor."

"Justice was made and certainly psychologically it was a great moment for Aly," added National
Team Coordinator Martha Karolyi. "I told her I see these fantastic sparkling eyes again
and I was sure that she will do a good job on floor."

Somewhat overshadowed in the lead up to the Games by teammates Gabby Douglas and
Jordyn Wieber, the 18-year-old is going home to Needham, Mass., as the most decorated
American gymnast in London. She also won gold in the team event with Douglas, McKayla
Maroney, Kyla Ross and Wieber.

Douglas and Wieber did not fare as well Tuesday (Aug. 7), with Douglas placing seventh on
balance beam after a fall and Wieber seventh on floor exercise.

On the men's side, Danell Leyva was fifth on horizontal bar, followed by Jonathan Horton, the
2008 silver medalist, in sixth place.

Raisman said that when the beam final scores flashed, "All I could think about was I was
fourth again," she said. "I've been fourth a million times. It's definitely bittersweet being in
fourth. You're excited that you're fourth in the world but you just missed being on the podium."

Mihai Brestyan, Raisman's coach, put in an inquiry, but only after Karolyi and her husband,
Bela Karolyi, yelled to him to do it, Raisman said.

A video review by a panel of judges gave Raisman a higher score for difficulty -- which in the
former scoring system was called the start value -- and her score was 15.066, one-tenth of a
point higher than the original score.

She was then tied with Catalina Ponor, the 2004 gold medalist on beam from Romania. Raisman
got the nod because of a higher execution score.

Douglas, who made history as the first African-American all-around champion, wasn't so
lucky. She said she rushed and lost her footing on a turn. Although she grabbed the beam,
flipping under it, Douglas couldn't save herself from a fall and scored 13.633.

"Even though I had a very bad ending of the chapter, the beginning was very strong," said
Douglas, who was eighth on uneven bars Monday. "Mentally and physically I was kind of tired, but overall, it's very good. I'm going home with two Olympic gold medals, so I'm very
happy. I put my all into it."

She added that everyone makes mistakes and she was happy she hit her routines when they
most counted -- in the team and all-around events. "You don't lose; you just technically have
a bad day," Douglas said. "So we're definitely not losers, we're like superheroes, we do tricks
like no one can do. Obviously it wasn't my day to shine."

It was Raisman's.

"It was the best routine I've ever done," she said, "so I'm so happy that it could be here at
the Olympic Games in floor finals."

Aly Raisman floors the competition

She performed to "Hava Nagila" as both U.S. and Israeli flags waved. "I wanted something
that the crowd could clap to," Raisman said. "I felt like I had nothing to lose, I already had
achieved one of my goals. It was going to be my last memory from London and I just wanted
to make it count. I was really calm. I could hear everyone else cheering. Normally I block
everything out, but I just wanted to stay in the moment."

As the third of eight performers, Raisman scored 15.600 -- improving from her score of
15.300 to lead the qualifying - and knew it was good enough for a medal. She just had to
wait to find out which one.

"Of course I was nervous," Raisman said. "I wanted them all to do well, too, because it
makes it that much better if everyone does well and you still come out on top."

As soon as Sandra Izbasa of Romania, the 2008 Olympic champion on floor, fell near the end
of her routine, photographers turned away from the mat and swarmed around Raisman.

Ponor, the 2004 Olympic floor champion who had earlier lost the bronze on beam to Raisman,
won the silver, scoring 15.200.

Wieber struggled on floor, stepping out of bounds and scoring 14.500. Her coach, John
Geddert, said after the competition that the 2011 world champion has had pain in her right
leg since mid-July and might have a stress fracture.

"I knew that it was going to have to take a lot of details in the routine with all the landings,"
Wieber said. "I did step out of bounds, and I knew at that point that it wouldn't be enough. I
tried to still fight through and finish the routine strong."

While Wieber's Olympics did not go as she had hoped, for her best friend Raisman, "It
definitely went better than I thought it would so I'm really happy," she said. "It's sad that the
Olympics are over, because you think about it so long. It definitely went by very quick so it's
crazy that it's over."